“There’s just not enough time in the day.” It’s a line I find myself stating on nearly a daily basis – maybe even more frequently since giving birth to Little Prince.
For several months, I’d go over everything I need to get done in the day and convince myself that I’ll tackle them only to find myself napping with baby by my side. And instead of lecturing myself for ignoring responsibilities, I told myself that I deserved it because I’m a new mom.
Didn’t finish cleaning the kitchen? It’s ok Terri. You’re a new mom.
Didn’t create the meal plan for the week? It’s ok Terri. The baby is fed and you’re a new mom.
Laundry continues to pile up? It’s ok Terri. You took a shower today and you’re a new mom.
Skipped out on organizing your editorial calendar? It’s ok Terri. You’re a new mom.
“I’m a new mom,” became the excuse for everything. But could you blame me? Strangers are always touting about how difficult the job of a mother could be. My days went from organizing editorial calendars, and taking weekly dance classes to whipping my boob out at the first sight of tears and doing what I can to not be covered in baby drool by the end of the day. It can certainly be very tiring. You know what they say – “So little time, so much to do.” And boy did I take that scapegoat of being a mom to heart.
So because I did so much as a mom, I decided to treat myself whenever I could. I’d treat myself to a binge of Brooklyn Nine Nine and Modern Family. I’d treat myself to dinner at Jersey Mike’s Subs. I even treat myself to aimlessly wandering around the mall.
After a while, all I had left was a baby and a whole lot of excuses. Yet, I couldn’t figure out why.
Well, obviously It was because I didn’t have time. Except that was a lie. If I have time to catch every episode of Modern Family and keep track of relationship milestones on Married at First Sight, I have time to do the important things like update this blog, volunteer in the community and keep up with laundry. The truth is, I didn’t make any of those Important things a priority.
I’ve found that where you are now, is a reflection of what you’ve done in the past two weeks. If you haven’t done anything remotely productive in two weeks, don’t expect to see any progress in your life now.
I've found that where you are now, is a reflection of what you've done in the past two weeks. Click To TweetI’m ashamed to admit that not only have I not accomplished anything but I’ve became a complete liar. I lied to myself every time I said I didn’t have enough time and followed it up with an excuse. Because the truth is I did have enough time, I just didn’t make it a priority.
We all have the same amount of time. There isn’y anyone who has more or less time than you. Everyone has the same 24 hours to get stuff done – That’s 168 hours in a week. It’s just some of us choose to whittle it away and others choose to take that time and run with it. If you are reading this post, I’m willing to bet that you are indeed a liar. In fact, you are a huge liar because you are probably lying every single day.
Don’t believe me? Think about something you didn’t get to do last week and why? Did you really not have time for it or did you just not make it a priority? I bet you really did have time to workout last week. You just found an excuse and then claimed you didn’t have time for it. The same applies to the meal plan you didn’t create, the budget you didn’t review and the business plan you didn’t write. You had a lot of time for it, you just didn’t make it a priority. It’s that simple.
I know a few of you are reading this and rolling your eyes, because I have no idea how you spend your time. You know for a fact that the issue isn’t your priorities but that you truly didn’t make the time.
As a new mother that spends her time, nursing, pumping milk every two hours, cleaning, managing a blog, choreographing Zumba routines, volunteering and working as a program manager who can’t seem to get anything done, I’m calling BS on you.
You and I both know that you have more than enough time. If you have time to take a 30 minute bubble bath everyday, you have time to workout. If you have time to bing watch Netflix, you have time to do your meal plan. If you have time to goof off at the mall than you have time to redo your budget. The problem isn’t not having time, but what you choose to make time for. You’re simply not making time for those important things, because they’re not a priority.
Instead of complaining about not having time to workout, tell yourself the truth. It’s not a priority. “Working out isn’t a priority.” Apply that idea to everything in your life you should fit in but don’t. If you don’t have time for it, it’s not a priority.
Once you start telling yourself that and it hits home, you’ll magically have time for everything!
Of course, you might need to get a bit creative with it since it’s always so easy. (For example, every time I do a 30 minute pumping session I work on my social media scheduling instead of watching tv.) But I’m sure you can get it done . Try tracking your daily activities to see where you spend most of your time. It might help you reassess your priorities.
Time is our most valuable resource and you have more than enough of it. Stop whittling it away and do something that doesn’t bring you closer to your goals instead.
What does the way you are spending time say about your priorities? Are you using time effectively or just making excuses? What things could you spend more time on?
TERRIFic Quip: Show me where your time is spent and I’ll show you what your priorities are.
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I know I need to do a better job prioritizing my time. I have a planner, so hopefully that will help me be more intentional with my time.
This was right on time. I was just working on a schedule, I can be so much more productive daily. I’m working on my schedule!
I was one of the ones rolling my eyes. I am not going to even lie LOL. I guess you’re right I don’t make something like exercising a priority because the only time I can do it is if I wake up super early, and that isn’t me. This was a great post, an eye opener for many.
I was one of the ones rolling my eyes. I am not going to even lie LOL. I guess you’re right I don’t make something like exercising a priority because the only time I can do it is if I wake up super early, and that isn’t me. This was a great post, an eye opener for many. 🙂
Yes even though the hours in the day are limited, we have to be better stewards of our time in many situations. Lord knows I am guilty of spending way too much time on social media. I am learning to catch myself when I am not being the most productive with my time and refocus.
I remember having the New Mom escape. it was bliss. Still I had to come to a point where I realized that wasn’t going to get me any further than where I was. It was a true wake up moment but I’m so glad I got there. I still have moments where I give myself a break but only with the note to self that this break means no results … so that keeps me motivated not to do it more than needed.
Definitely true, we make time for things that are important to us. Excuses can easily rob us of our future.
Definitely true, we make time for things that are important to us. Excuses can easily rob us of our future.
It can be hard to manage time as a mom, but you’ve made a good point about priorities. My mom always says people make time for what they want to do.
You are spot on, especially as a mom. But at some point we do have to be honest with ourselves about our priorties and make the effort to set real priorities and stick to them. It’s always a work in progress but we can all be better about our time management.
My schedule is one of the things I have to work on, starting now! You’re so very right. We have more than enough time to accomplish the things we need and want to do.
Great post! I can tell you’re a busy lady! I definitely always struggle with time/priority management! I’m hoping to make major breakthroughs with it soon!